Lt. Boxy Angelman
I WILL EAT THIS GAME
Shujinko.
When you get right down to it, nothing in the entirety of the 3D games' storyline happens without him walking out of his village and embarking on the Kamidogu quest.
He plays parts in most of the key rivalries/dilemmas amongst the characters.
He's the sole reason the Deadly Alliance succeeds in reviving Onaga and setting the apocalypse in motion by unbalancing the realms.
But he plays second fiddle in Armageddon to the only people whose roles were more pivotal than his: Taven, Daegon and Blaze.
Then, like everyone else, he dies at the feet of the Pyramid Of Argus.
Leaving all of the important questions/THE question at the end of his quest in Deception unanswered...
What became of the Kamidogu?
But now, in this current, heavily altered story, you have a completely different variable:
Raiden has all but defied the laws of time itself and completely changed the history that was supposed to unfold.
Possibly, in some oddball scientific way, unbalancing the realms in an even more severe way than it would've otherwise been, and as Liu Kang said before buying the farm, killing us all.
So how do you spin a game out of this? You need 4 things.
-Shujinko.
-Argus.
-Ermac.
-Quan Chi's Amulet.
I'm actually writing a script to go along with this for shits and giggles, but the plan would be...
Shujinko meets his end in the final battle.
Taven wins, nothing happens, the prophecy is broken, back comes Shao Kahn to kill him and steal the gift.
No one's left standing to stand against him atop the Pyramid Of Argus.
Buuuuuut...as it took place in IIRC Daegon's ending in MKA, Argus himself was never entirely disposed of...although my idea takes the plan on a bit of a different sidestep.
In Ermac's MK9 ending, he's revealed to have been in possession of Argus' soul inside his composition.
And that, in theory, could be where everything went wrong as far as the prophecy/why Taven failed.
In the years before, when Daegon was awoken early and went insane/killed Argus and Telia, his/her soul was harnessed by Shao Kahn and a then-young and freshly evil Shang Tsung and harbored there for centuries, eventually being released upon the world as the walking clusterfuck that is Ermac.
THIS is why the prophecy wasn't properly fulfilled and Shao Kahn ended up victorious at the end of MKA/start of MK9 instead of one of the brothers. The disorder of Daegon's early release and Argus & Telia's absence through what would've otherwise been a successful pair of destinies into a total tailspin.
So during the course of the battle, when Ermac inevitably dies as well, Argus' soul is finally set free and immediately takes hold of Shujinko - think Kratos and Gaia in God Of War 2 or Harry & Albus at the end of Harry Potter 7 - the two of them, in some off-shoot world beyond the world location, where all is revealed, but nothing is known for certain by either man as far as what's been changed except for the fact that Raiden's actions will inevitably lead to much different, possibly much more drastic outcome for existance in and of itself.
The reason you need Shujinko?
He's the only regular joe out of the bunch, including Taven and Daegon, who could freely traverse the realms thanks to the powers he'd gained during the Kamidogu quest.
He absorbed and mastered just about every skill there was to learn amongst ALL the kombatants.
And since his history with the realms in jeopardy extend far into the past, before MK1 or anything thereafter took place, he already has a measure of knowledge no other would have when it comes to them.
So, at the risk of further breaking time and worsening their odds, Argus uses what's left of his godly power to follow in Raiden's footsteps and propels the oldster back in time to save the day...again.
THIS TIME, he has the advantage...having already spent most of his life seeking out the Kamidogu once, he now at least knows exactly how to go about finding them - Earthrealm's is with the Lin Kuel, Netherrealm's is hidden amongst Soul Stones, Chaosrealm's is in the time goo, Outworld's is in the Living Forest, Seido's is guarded by Guardsmen in the prison, and Edenia's is in the royal palace.
Now, as before, it's simply a matter of getting a hold of Quan Chi and the amulet, sending them back to the Elder Gods, and restoring balance.
(As far as having two Jinkos in one timeline, that's easy - new world Shujinko dies at the hands of Evil Liu Kang. Game over.)
But he doesn't have that kind of time to go looking and exploring...and that's where new world Ermac comes into play.
Find Ermac. Release Argus.
Save the cheerleader, save the world.
As a God himself, he's naturally connected to the Kamidogu, so poof- instant key finder.
Then come the realms, rivalries, Chaos, Order, AHHHHHHHHH!!!, and so forth.
And the rest will pretty much be history.
That's my plan. Thoughts?
When you get right down to it, nothing in the entirety of the 3D games' storyline happens without him walking out of his village and embarking on the Kamidogu quest.
He plays parts in most of the key rivalries/dilemmas amongst the characters.
He's the sole reason the Deadly Alliance succeeds in reviving Onaga and setting the apocalypse in motion by unbalancing the realms.
But he plays second fiddle in Armageddon to the only people whose roles were more pivotal than his: Taven, Daegon and Blaze.
Then, like everyone else, he dies at the feet of the Pyramid Of Argus.
Leaving all of the important questions/THE question at the end of his quest in Deception unanswered...
What became of the Kamidogu?
But now, in this current, heavily altered story, you have a completely different variable:
Raiden has all but defied the laws of time itself and completely changed the history that was supposed to unfold.
Possibly, in some oddball scientific way, unbalancing the realms in an even more severe way than it would've otherwise been, and as Liu Kang said before buying the farm, killing us all.
So how do you spin a game out of this? You need 4 things.
-Shujinko.
-Argus.
-Ermac.
-Quan Chi's Amulet.
I'm actually writing a script to go along with this for shits and giggles, but the plan would be...
Shujinko meets his end in the final battle.
Taven wins, nothing happens, the prophecy is broken, back comes Shao Kahn to kill him and steal the gift.
No one's left standing to stand against him atop the Pyramid Of Argus.
Buuuuuut...as it took place in IIRC Daegon's ending in MKA, Argus himself was never entirely disposed of...although my idea takes the plan on a bit of a different sidestep.
In Ermac's MK9 ending, he's revealed to have been in possession of Argus' soul inside his composition.
And that, in theory, could be where everything went wrong as far as the prophecy/why Taven failed.
In the years before, when Daegon was awoken early and went insane/killed Argus and Telia, his/her soul was harnessed by Shao Kahn and a then-young and freshly evil Shang Tsung and harbored there for centuries, eventually being released upon the world as the walking clusterfuck that is Ermac.
THIS is why the prophecy wasn't properly fulfilled and Shao Kahn ended up victorious at the end of MKA/start of MK9 instead of one of the brothers. The disorder of Daegon's early release and Argus & Telia's absence through what would've otherwise been a successful pair of destinies into a total tailspin.
So during the course of the battle, when Ermac inevitably dies as well, Argus' soul is finally set free and immediately takes hold of Shujinko - think Kratos and Gaia in God Of War 2 or Harry & Albus at the end of Harry Potter 7 - the two of them, in some off-shoot world beyond the world location, where all is revealed, but nothing is known for certain by either man as far as what's been changed except for the fact that Raiden's actions will inevitably lead to much different, possibly much more drastic outcome for existance in and of itself.
The reason you need Shujinko?
He's the only regular joe out of the bunch, including Taven and Daegon, who could freely traverse the realms thanks to the powers he'd gained during the Kamidogu quest.
He absorbed and mastered just about every skill there was to learn amongst ALL the kombatants.
And since his history with the realms in jeopardy extend far into the past, before MK1 or anything thereafter took place, he already has a measure of knowledge no other would have when it comes to them.
So, at the risk of further breaking time and worsening their odds, Argus uses what's left of his godly power to follow in Raiden's footsteps and propels the oldster back in time to save the day...again.
THIS TIME, he has the advantage...having already spent most of his life seeking out the Kamidogu once, he now at least knows exactly how to go about finding them - Earthrealm's is with the Lin Kuel, Netherrealm's is hidden amongst Soul Stones, Chaosrealm's is in the time goo, Outworld's is in the Living Forest, Seido's is guarded by Guardsmen in the prison, and Edenia's is in the royal palace.
Now, as before, it's simply a matter of getting a hold of Quan Chi and the amulet, sending them back to the Elder Gods, and restoring balance.
(As far as having two Jinkos in one timeline, that's easy - new world Shujinko dies at the hands of Evil Liu Kang. Game over.)
But he doesn't have that kind of time to go looking and exploring...and that's where new world Ermac comes into play.
Find Ermac. Release Argus.
Save the cheerleader, save the world.
As a God himself, he's naturally connected to the Kamidogu, so poof- instant key finder.
Then come the realms, rivalries, Chaos, Order, AHHHHHHHHH!!!, and so forth.
And the rest will pretty much be history.
That's my plan. Thoughts?